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Definition of em dash

em dash

Plural:em dashes
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• noun

1

A long horizontal punctuation mark (—), traditionally the width of a capital letter M in a given typeface, used to set off parenthetical phrases, indicate a sudden break in thought, or emphasize a concluding clause.

Example

"The editor replaced the pair of commas with an em dash to give the final clause greater dramatic emphasis."

Synonyms
View all synonyms for em dash

Word Nuance & Usage

The em dash (—) is frequently confused with the shorter en dash (–), which indicates ranges of numbers or dates, and the hyphen (-), which joins compound words.

• Nearby Words

elwha
elysium
em
em dash
emaciated
emaciation
email

Usage Trend

Historical frequency of usage in published text.

180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Em dash. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/em-dash
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